Benjamin Watson Comes Out of Retirement to Sign With Patriots
By Liam McKeone
Many an eyebrow was raised when the Patriots did nothing during the draft to replenish the tight end position after the retirement of Rob Gronkowski. They still haven’t done much, adding only Austin Sefarian-Jenkins and an undrafted free agent to the position group. Today, they added some more reinforcements, as NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reports the team is signing Benjamin Watson.
Former #Patriots TE Benjamin Watson is planning to sign back with New England again. There are a few issues to work through, but those won’t hold up the deal. The former first round pick will be back home again.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) May 9, 2019
Watson actually retired at the end of last season after returning to the Bayou for one last ride in New Orleans. He has decided to unretire, though, and re-joins the team that drafted him way back in 2004. He stayed with the team for six years before heading to Cleveland, New Orleans, Baltimore, and New Orleans once more.
Watson won’t provide much in terms of productivity, but will be an excellent mentor and the kind of character the Pats love to have around.